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Rating:
If not certainly, most likely the European metal scene in the last decade has been dominated by Sweden.
It couldn't be otherwise, in fact, the Scandinavian country has managed to produce bands of the caliber of Opeth, At The Gates, In Flames, Meshuggah, and Entombed, which have also gained significant international recognition.
I would like to focus specifically on the last mentioned band, particularly on their debut, a mysterious, glacial, and stunningly evil album like the splendid cover: yes, I'm talking about "Left Hand Path"!
The album was released in 1990 when Entombed consisted of Lars Goran Petrov on vocals, Alex Hellid and Uffe Cederlund on guitars, and finally Nicke Andersson on drums, while the bass role during the recordings was handled by the last two.
Given the release year, it's understandable that there are still many Thrash influences coming from overseas, but despite all this, the work manages to detach itself from this genre and attach more to an unmistakably Death style thanks to its dark atmospheres, and the Title-Track is a glaring example: opening with the piercing scream of a person immersed in the foggy night of the cold Scandinavian forest among a thousand damned spirits, it lets loose with heart-stopping riffs featuring guitars that chase each other incessantly, ending with an enchanting yet dark keyboard passage.
With the following "Drowned," the oppressive and violent atmosphere that characterizes much of the album is restored, presenting itself as a very good song, as are the subsequent tracks "Revel In Flesh," "When Life Has Ceased," "Supposed To Rot," and "But Life Goes On."
As the seventh track, we find the iconic "Bitter Loss," monumental from the first riff to the final solo, where the use of double vocals, both clean and growl, is successfully experimented. Not less impressive is the subsequent "Morbid Devourment," which with its slowdowns and speed changes highlights Nicke Andersson's abilities, not to mention the bonus track "Carnal Leftovers," another highlight of the album and the last noteworthy track.
Surely you won't find a production as good as those of recent releases, but we can't complain if we have guitars that present something of a chainsaw sound, as they make the album even more savage than it might already be.
Unfortunately, the lyrics are what they are, predominantly featuring sulfurous themes (thinking that the album translates to "The Left Hand Path," we understand a lot about the most used themes), which in my opinion greatly lower the quality of the work, but nevertheless, "Left Hand Path" remains one of the first masterpieces of Nordic metal, unfortunately forgotten but certainly essential for the growth of Swedish death...
Chilling.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
06 But Life Goes On (02:59)
A rotten stench
Surrounds another ended life
Maggots infesting the rotten flesh
Is that the way you want to die?
Decomposed
Don't want to live in a decaying shell
But why should I go to heaven
And who's to say I'll enter hell
Dead - Deceased, but life goes on
I will be the one who won
My charred body will decay
But my soul will be floating anyway
Visually a corpse
But what's inside my head
Don't consider I once was deceased
So I guess I'll come back from the dead
Dying my death
In relentless aggrieve
Dead and put down in a wooden box
Just can't be my destiny
Dead - Deceased, but life goes on
I will be the one who won
Continue to seek and you will see
That life is your worst enemy
10 The Truth Beyond (03:25)
People put to death in the name of God
And blood run red in an eternal flood
The word has been spread - Through out the centuries
Millions of corpses lying in the cemeteries
Reek of christianity
Down of obscuration
The birth of insanity
And death to liberation
Lord of evolution
Enslavement emperor
Root of all evil
It is the holy terror
God the almighty - The creator of Earth
Devote your life to this holy writ - The key to your rebirth
And if you've been a believer of justice and brave
So what! It shall be written on your grave
The bell summon its slaves to mass
In the darkest hour
To devour the body of Christ
The blood feast shall increase their power
Chalices filled to the edge with blood
Drawn from holy veins
Tearing his stomach open
And revel in the shredded remains
Smell the putrid stench
Of the godblessed crucifixion
And discover the lies
There is no resurrection
Get your eyes open wide
And discover the lies
See the truth beyond
The shadows of a false paradise!
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